The Curse of the Dugu Family

Dugu Bo first settled Dugu Yan at his home in Heaven Dou City, instructing the servants to look after her well.

If Dugu Yan woke up, he told them to let her return to Heaven Dou Royal Academy and ignore everything else.

He then brought Xing Tian to the Sunset Forest, venturing deep inside. The two did not exchange a single word until they arrived before a thick bank of purple fog.

Dugu Bo finally spoke: "This poisonous mist is a toxin formation set up by this old man. My place of seclusion lies within; even a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast would not dare cross this line."

The blue leather pouch, only the size of two adult palms and designed to hang from a belt, was much larger than a sachet, yet it could only accommodate a single hand.

Having said this, Dugu Bo retrieved a porcelain bottle larger than the pouch itself from the blue leather container on his belt and poured out a single pill.

Xing Tian quickly realized that Dugu Bo's pouch was also a spatial storage Soul Tool, though he wondered how its quality compared to the wrist-guard storage Soul Tool Ye Renxin had gifted him.

Dugu Bo handed the pill to Xing Tian and said, "This is a Detoxification Pill. You must consume it to safely enter the toxin formation. Its effects will last for one day."

Xing Tian did not doubt him; he held it in his mouth, tasted it carefully, then swallowed it before following Dugu Bo into the formation.

Xing Tian felt the profound mysteries of the toxin formation; Dugu Bo's words were no exaggeration.

Never mind a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, even a forty-thousand-year Soul Beast would essentially be dead upon arrival.

If it were a Soul Master without the cultivation of a Soul Saint, entering the formation would cause the victim to suffer full-body convulsions and shriveled meridians within an hour, leading to death. Their corpse would dissolve into pus in less than an hour, becoming nourishment for the formation.

Even a Soul Saint, without means of detoxification, would struggle to endure for long and could not resist the toxins invading their body; it would require the cultivation of a Title Douluo to forcibly purge the poison.

After passing through the toxin formation, the two arrived before a mountain.

Dugu Bo waved his right hand gently, and a three-meter-tall boulder before them was enveloped in a jade-green light. It then moved in the direction of his wave, revealing the entrance to a cave.

Once they entered, Dugu Bo waved his hand again, and the boulder sealed the entrance once more. The cave was pitch black; Xing Tian could only see the green light emanating from Dugu Bo's eyes.

Dugu Bo waved his hand again, and a ring of jade-green flames ignited around them.

Under the illumination of the green fire, Xing Tian finally saw that he was in a cave spanning nearly a thousand square meters.

Dugu Bo spoke coldly: "Say what you want to say."

Xing Tian said solemnly: "Senior Dugu, both you and Yanyan have been poisoned, haven't you?"

Dugu Bo's gaze sharpened: "What did you say?"

Xing Tian continued: "Actually, I suspected it the moment I first met you. Your hair color, eye color, complexion, scent, and even your gait are all very strange."

"I just thought that it was normal for a poison master to be poisoned, and that while poisoned, it didn't really affect you."

"But there were simply too many oddities. I wasn't familiar with you at the time, and you are a Title Douluo with an unreachable level of cultivation, so I assumed it was some secret technique and didn't say anything."

"However, Yanyan's sudden change today made me suspicious again, so I used a drop of her blood to examine it carefully and finally confirmed my hypothesis."

"Whenever it is cloudy or raining, do you feel a numbing itch in your ribs that gradually intensifies? It flares up once at noon and once at midnight, lasting for over an hour each time."

"Every night around the third watch, you experience needle-like pain in the crown of your head and the soles of your feet, followed by full-body spasms for at least half an hour."

"You are not only poisoned, but the poison has reached your bone marrow—it is not something that can be suppressed by Soul Power alone. I cannot imagine how you have managed to survive this long."

"As for Yanyan, this should be her first flare-up, but her potential problem is even more severe. Because she was poisoned from the womb, subsequent flare-ups will only be more violent."

Dugu Bo could no longer contain his shock and blurted out: "How do you know this?"

Although Dugu Bo had guessed that Xing Tian might suspect he and Dugu Yan were poisoned, he had not expected Xing Tian to describe it in such detail, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

This was Dugu Bo's greatest secret; even Dugu Yan did not know.

In that instant, a murderous intent even flickered in Dugu Bo's eyes, though it was quickly suppressed.

Dugu Bo sat powerlessly on a rock, lifting his head slightly with tears in his eyes—a sight that moved even Xing Tian, who was accustomed to life and death.

At this moment, Dugu Bo did not seem like the Jade Phosphorus Douluo who dominated the world with poison, but rather a decadent old man on the verge of death, unable to save his own kin.

It took a long time for Dugu Bo to compose himself. "This is the curse of the Dugu family. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison is too tyrannical. Every time I add a Soul Ring, it fuses with the poison attribute of the ring to form a mixed toxin, increasing the toxicity exponentially. Combined with the stimulation of our ancestral poison arts, it has reached an irreversible state."

"My father died because of this, and my wife, due to her long-term proximity to me, died in childbirth. My son and daughter-in-law passed away young for the same reason. Now, even Yanyan is beginning to suffer."

Suddenly, Dugu Bo was consumed by rage: "This is all your fault!"

"Ah? My fault? Why?" Xing Tian looked aggrieved.

Dugu Bo roared: "Yanyan is naturally lazy and doesn't focus on cultivation; she wasn't even that interested in poison arts. The reason I didn't demand more of her was that I hoped to delay the onset of her poisoning."

"Under normal circumstances, Yanyan wouldn't have had her first flare-up until after she became a Soul Elder, and it certainly wouldn't have been as intense as it was today."

"But ever since your first spar, her personality changed. She began to cultivate diligently, came into contact with more and more toxins, and even asked me to teach her poison arts. I didn't dare tell her the secret, so I could only indulge her."

"That is why Yanyan's first flare-up was so fast and so violent!"

"Tell me, is it not your fault?"

Dugu Bo said frantically: "If it weren't for your appearance, Yanyan could have stayed with me for a few more years. I might have even seen her get married and have children! Now look at this, what do you expect me to do!"

Xing Tian was so overwhelmed by Dugu Bo's barrage of scolding that he forgot to even argue back.

At this moment, Dugu Bo suddenly said: "You brat, you must take responsibility for Yanyan!"

Xing Tian sobered up instantly: "What?"

Before Xing Tian could continue, Dugu Bo took the initiative: "What? Yanyan is as beautiful as a flower, and I am a Title Douluo—are you not happy about it?"

"It's not that. It's just..."

"What 'just'! I don't care about that. I only know that Yanyan likes you, and it was you who worsened the situation. With your physical constitution, you won't be affected by the toxins in Yanyan's body, so you must take responsibility for her. As for how many women you take in the future, I won't stop you!"